rain forest

An evergreen woodland of the tropics distinguished by a continuous leaf canopy and an average rainfall of about 100 inches per year. Rain forests play an important role in the global environment. The Earth sustains life because of critical balances and interactions among many factors. Were there not processes at work that limit the effects of other essential processes, Earth would become uninhabitable. Destruction of tropical rain forests reduces the amount of leaf area in the tropics, and consequently the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed, causing increases in levels of carbon dioxide and other atmospheric gases. It is estimated that cutting and burning of tropical forests contributes about 20 percent of the carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere each year. The World Resources Institute and the International Institute for Environment and Development have reported that the world's tropical forests are being destroyed at the rate of fifty-four acres per minute, or twenty-eight million acres lost annually. Rain forest destruction also means the loss of a wide spectrum of biological life, erosion of soil, and possible desertification. Source: NASA (http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Glossary)